While I did point out some basic differences between the two, I didn’t really go into to much detail into what those differences really are.

Here I have put together a list of things that conspiracy theorists tend to do that sets them apart from conspiracy believers:

Terminology

Conspiracy theorists has certain words that they tend to use and is quite common for them to use in a conversation (or argument). Some of the more common words used are shill, sheeple, blue pill, red pill, and dis-info agent.

There are of course more then just that, but if you hang around enough conspiracy theorist websites (or get into an argument with a conspiracy theorist on Youtube) you’ll learn more of them.

Creating conspiracy theories

One of the primary things that set conspiracy theorists apart from conspiracy believers is that conspiracy theorists actually create conspiracy theories.

Many of these conspiracy theories tend to be either expanding on a already established conspiracy theory, or a conspiracy thats directed at them. Of course, sometimes conspiracy theorists create entirely new conspiracy theories as well.

Emotional Reactions

While conspiracy believers might not become to emotional when discussing a conspiracy theory that they believe in, many conspiracy theorists on the other hand tend to become emotional when they discuss a conspiracy theory they believe. The levels of emotional reactions varies depending on how important the conspiracy theory is to that person, how much they believe the alledged conspiracy affects them, and if the person they are discussing the conspiracy theory with believes them or not.

This may odd by what I’m about about to say here, but not all conspiracy theorists are conspiracy theorists.

At least they’re not all true conspiracy theorists per se …

When I think of a conspiracy theorist, I think about a person who not only believes in conspiracy theories, but also refuses to, and out right rejects any evidence that contradicts a conspiracy theory. In time this rejection of the evidence for what they consider “the truth” can lead them down a dark path, one in which causes them to think irrationally and illogically, and become hostile towards those who do not believe them, which can ultimately end up affecting their lives in a negative manner, and causes them to surround themselves with people who think like them.

This is what I typically think of when I think of a conspiracy theorist, due to the result of past encounters with actually conspiracy theorists on the internet. The problem with this is that not all of them are like this.

Not all people who believe in certain conspiracy theories are irrational and hostile people who reject evidence debunking the conspiracy theory they believe in. They might continue to believe in the conspiracy theory regardless of the evidence, but at least they don’t out right reject the evidence without reason. Also, the belief in these conspiracy theories does not effect their lives in a negative manner, and they don’t try to push their theories onto others (which is also something that conspiracy theorists tend to do), and they don’t hang out with other people wo also believe what they believe.

This is why I believe a different term should be used for these people, and not the general term “conspiracy theorist” because, lets all face it, the term “conspiracy theorist” has become a pretty negative term as of late, and I also believe the term is inaccurate for some people as well.

I believe the term that should be used instead for such people should be called “conspiracy believer”.

Had enough government rhetoric? Tired of following the sheeple? Fed up with believing what THEY want you to believe? Maybe it’s time to branch out and discover THE TRUTH.

If you’re new to the exciting world of conspiracy theories and just can’t decide which paranoid delusion best suits you, then why not use this handy flowchart to find your ideal conspiracy theory. Then you too can go and stick it to THE MAN.

We usually dismiss conspiracy theorists as crazy people; but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Today we’re going to descend into the darkest depths of the human mind to learn what makes a conspiracy theorist tick; or, as some would put it, to learn why his tick seems just a bit off. Is there anything we can learn from the conspiratorial mind, and is there a method to its apparent madness?

The human brain evolved in such a way as to keep itself alive to the best of its ability. For the past few million years, our ancestors faced a relatively straightforward daily life. Their job was simply to stay alive. Like us, they had different personalities, different aptitudes, different attitudes. This was borne out in many ways, but the classic example that’s often used is that something would rustle in the tall grass. Some of our ancestors weren’t too concerned, and figured it was merely the wind; but others were more cautious, suspected a panther, and jumped for the nearest tree. Over the eons, and hundreds of thousands of generations, the nonchalant ancestors were wrong (and got eaten) just often enough that eventually, more survivors were those who tended toward caution, and even paranoia. In evolution, it pays to err on the side of caution. The brains most likely to survive were those who saw a panther in every breath of wind, an angry god in every storm cloud, a malevolent purpose in every piece of random noise. We are alive today as a race, in part, because our brains piece random events together into a pattern that adds up to a threat that may or may not be real. As a result, we are afraid of the dark even though there’s rarely a monster; thunder frightens us even though lightning is scarcely a credible threat; and we perceive the menace of malevolent conspiracies in the acts of others, despite the individual unlikelihood of any one given example.

Conspiratorial thinking is not a brain malfunction. It’s our brain working properly, and doing exactly what it evolved to do.

So then, why aren’t we all conspiracy theorists? Why don’t we all see conspiracies all day long? It’s because we also have an intellect, and enough experience with living in our world that we are usually able to correctly analyze the facts and fit them into the way we have learned things really work. It is, exactly as it sounds, a competition between two forces in our head. One is the native, instinctive impulse to see everything as a threat, and the other is our rational, conscious thought that takes that input and judges it.

Let’s look at two examples that illustrate the ends of the spectrum. David Icke is a British conspiracy theorist best known for his claim that most world leaders are actually reptilian aliens wearing electronic disguises. When you pause a video, he points to the compression artifacting and asserts that it’s a glitch in the electronic disguise. However, he’s out in the world, he tours, he writes books, he has a family and is a member of his community. He’s not locked in an asylum as we might expect from hearing his theory.

Ok… I am a bit confused by the whole “Batman Shooter Conspiracy” theory. Correction – I am a bit confused about the reasons some people are citing as proof of a conspiracy.

I certainly don’t doubt the possibility of a conspiracy existing here. Nor do I doubt our government’s willingness to create such a conspiracy in an attempt to use fear to convince the general public to hand over their Constitutional rights (it certainly wouldn’t be the first time).

The thing that I am hung up on… is questioning the mental faculties of whoever put together this cute little meme:

So… let’s just start by discussing the question raised in frame one.

First of all, before even getting into specifics about the ACTUAL photos – I just want to answer the surface question “How many people have one ear stick out that much more than the other ear?” Frankly, A…